The Eustachian tube, also known as the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear. It is named after the sixteenth-century Italian anatomist Bartolomeo Eustachi. In adult humans, it is approximately 35 mm long and 3 mm in diameter. Normally, the tube is collapsed, but it gapes open with swallowing.
About Eustachian tube in brief
The Eustachian tube, also known as the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear, which it is also part of. It is named after the sixteenth-century Italian anatomist Bartolomeo Eustachi. In adult humans, it is approximately 35 mm long and 3 mm in diameter. Normally, the tube is collapsed, but it gapes open with swallowing and with positive pressure to equalize the pressure between the body’s exterior and middle ear. The cartilaginous and bony portions of the tube are not in the same plane, the former inclining downward a little more than the latter. The tube is opened during swallowing by contraction of the muscles of the soft palate, soft palatini, and levator veli veli Palatini muscles. The position and relations of the pharyngeal opening are described with the nasal part of thepharynx.
There are four muscles associated with the tube: Gerlach, Velat, velatini and tensor tensor veli. The diameter of the Eustachtian tube is not uniform throughout, being greatest at the opening at the junction of the bony and cartillaginous portions, and again increased toward the tympanic cavity. The isthmus, which contains mucous, is covered with ciliated pseudostratified columnar epital epital tissue and is thin in the osseous portion, while in the cartilagenous portion it contains a considerable amount of adenoid tissue, which has been named the tube tonsil. The distal part of the tubotanic recessal cavity gives rise to the proximal sulimal cavity, while the distal part of the proximal part of the tympanic cavity gives the rise to the pulmonary cavity, which gives rise to the first pouch and second end of the first palate.
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This page is based on the article Eustachian tube published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 28, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
